WHAT do you do when you have no money and you need a new iPhone? In China, one couple decided to trade in their newborn.

According to Chinese news site People’s Daily Online, a pair of 19-year-olds became unwilling parents after accidentally conceiving. When the child was 18-days-old, the baby’s father ‘A Duan’ and mother ‘Xiao Mei’ — their names have been changed — used social media to free themselves of their living, breathing burden.

Short of cash, they put the baby up for sale on instant messaging service QQ for 23,000 Yuan, the equivalent of $AU4700, because they wanted to buy a new iPhone and a motorbike.

The baby was reportedly purchased by a Chinese man and is currently living with the man’s sister until police resolve the situation.

The original father was arrested after the “new father” handed himself in to authorities. A Duan was handed a three-year jail term. The baby’s biological mother was tracked down and told her own sob story to police.

“I myself was adopted, and many people in my hometown send their kids to other people to raise them. I really didn’t know it was illegal,” she said, according to London newspaper The Telegraph.

In China, it’s believed thousands of children are stolen and sold online each year. Around the world, it’s less common but it still happens.